"A two-year-old, $15 million coal industry project to fund research on mining's health, environmental and economic impacts is beginning to produce results. New papers have been published, conference presentations are being delivered, and a weeklong symposium is scheduled for later this month."

Loaded coal cars sit in the rail yards at Danville, West Virginia, near Charleston, awaiting shipment to customers. It is one of the largest transshipment points for coal in the world. A constant stream of rail cars is moved in and out of the small town, April 1974. (Photo from tomclarkblog.blogspot.com)

"We get so swamped by people and their myriad problems that we can easily become desperate to find solutions for them. This is compounded when our ‘advice’ is ignored or doesn’t work and we can slip into spiritual depression. It’s not a terrible thing to want to help the broken but it is a dangerous thing, both for ourselves and those we are trying to ‘help’, if we forget that it is only grace that can bring real, lasting change into our hearts and lives."

"Coal has been the most popular way to generate electricity in America for as long as electricity has been around. For decades, coal’s top spot seemed unassailable. But that’s all changing, incredibly rapidly."

"Shock and awe washed across the Tennessee Valley on Wednesday as the Obama administration suggested selling TVA. The recommendation surprised TVA officials and drew a fiery response from a Republican senator."